New Jersey Child Birth Defect Statistics And Zofran Lawsuits

In June 2015, a Zofran related birth defect lawsuit was brought to court against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) by a family from New Jersey stating that in utero exposure to Zofran resulted in their son developing clubfoot or talipes equinovarus. Clubfoot is a deformity in which a baby’s foot is turned inward. The mother claimed that she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) or grave morning sickness, three weeks after falling pregnant. Zofran was prescribed for her HG which she started taking five weeks into her pregnancy. For more about this New Jersey Zofran birth defect click here.

This lawsuit is not an oddity, Zofran has been well documented in several clinical studies that have shown Zofran as an agent that causes certain birth defects such as cleft palate and congenital heart defects. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturers of Zofran, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), for promoting their drug as an anti-nausea drug for pregnant women when in actual fact it was neither tested nor approved for use as a solution for grave morning sickness in pregnant women.

New Jersey: Birth Abnormalities Figures

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports that each day 20 babies in New Jersey are born with a birth defect. As for the rest of the United States, it is reported that one in every 33 births results in some type of abnormality. Zofran was approved for use in the United States in 1991 and gained undisputed favor as the drug for fighting severe morning sickness. The drug had almost 99% market share in 2005.

Going by this data, as well as taking the average chances of a baby being born with deformities identified in clinical researches, we have calculated that almost 5,200 babies born in New Jersey were negatively affected by the use of Zofran during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

New Jersey’s five most populated cities are as follows:

Newark- 278,427

Jersey City- 257,342

Paterson- 145,948

Elizabeth- 127,558

Edison- 101,450

What Are The Cleft Abnormalities & CHDs Connected With Zofran In New Jersey?

If the ratios and odds that have been determined in epidemiological studies are correct, then we calculate that there are almost 5,200 births in New Jersey that have been negatively affected by the presence of Zofran in an unborn baby during its early stages of development.Of that figure we believe that 940 of those births were a form of cleft palate and 4,260 births were congenital heart defects (CHDs). Using this information we have broken the stats down in New Jersey’s five major cities as listed below:

Newark- 180 birth abnormalities with close to 75 cleft palate, and 105 CHDs

Paterson- 120 birth abnormalities with close to 30 cleft palate, and 90 CHDs

Elizabeth- 110 birth abnormalities with close to 40 cleft palate, and 70 CHDs

Edison- 100 birth abnormalities with close to 20 cleft palate, and 80 CHDs

Birth Abnormalities That Have Been Cited

Despite the numerous clinical studies that have been conducted and have shown the unfavorable effects Zofran has on an unborn baby, GSK still denies that their drug is the cause of these birth abnormalities. Cases that have been brought to court have seen complainants cite that Zofran lead to a baby being born with the following abnormalities:

Facial dysmorphia

Renal malformations

Webbed toes

Low set ears

Supraventricular tachycardia

Hole in the heart defects

Cleft palate

Clubfoot

New Jersey Parents Researching Zofran Lawsuits

ZofranLegal.com was generated with the objective of giving a constant flow of information of the Zofran lawsuit. Our legal team is not permitted to practice law in the state of New Jersey. However, we are permitted to practice law and hold offices in Delaware. The good thing about Delaware is that it is the state where GSK has its HQ, which makes it a plausible state where we can file a Zofran case for you. Click here for more information about our Delaware offices.

As it stands, a lot of contact forms and phone calls have come our way from families from New Jersey who have concluded that their child’s birth abnormality was as a result of Zofran having been taken in the early stages of fetal development. We have several options that will allow you to file your Zofran lawsuit. Your family can either file a case in Delaware where we have offices and where GSK is headquartered, or at another convenient location or we may suggest you file through our network of local New Jersey counsel.

Having so many questions is very common at this stage and we encourage you to call us at any time. Meet our Zofran advocates here.

About Post Author

Michael Monheit, Esq. is an experienced mass torts lawyer. Michael is the parent of a child with developmental delay and special needs. He also sits on the board for The Cleft Lip And Palate Foundation of Smiles. Michael has been appointed lead plaintiffs' counsel in several mass tort lawsuits.

Attorney Disclaimer: ZofranLegal.com is sponsored by Monheit Law, a Pennsylvania law firm. This website was created to provide public information about Zofran claims, lawsuits, and related news. This information is not to be taken as formal legal advice and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For more information about Zofran lawsuits, contact our lawyers to review your case. Disclaimer